Shift fork coming off of the pivot ball during re-assembly

[Bad89stang]

I just stabbed my T-5 back in by myself (this is probably where I went wrong) and got everything bolted up. I went to attach the cable and there was no tension at all. I am pretty sure that the fork came off of the pivot ball while I was wrestling with it. The bearing is sliding on the retainer correctly, but there is no tension. I can barely see in the access hole to get a look at the other side of the fork.

Someone confirm that the fork not being on the ball would cause a lack of tension. I figure I can just drop the tranny and fix the fork with the bell still bolted up. Sound right?